Fitness Benefits of Kettlebells (by ACE)

Workout trends come and go, and the 2010 has been the trend of kettlebells, a centuries old piece of cast iron ball with a handle. Kettlebell training is intense, fun and fat burning. Increasing popularity of kettlebell training across the country and world motivated the American Council on Exercise (ACE) to look into the science behind this workout trend. They analyzed the energy cost and exercise intensity by studying 10 male and female volunteers at ages 29 to 46 years. They wanted to look and see how much of an aerobic workout you do get and how many calories you really burn. The entire study is below:

During the 20-minute workout, the average calorie burn was 272 calories, not counting additional calorie burn due to the substantial anaerobic effort. The researches estimated oxygen consumption and how many calories the trainees were burning aerobically, and it was 13.6 calories per minute. They also measured the blood lactate, and the trainees were burning another 6.6 calories per minute anaerobically. Which means that they were burning at least 20.2 calories per minute, which was off the charts — an equivalent to running a 6-minute mile pace or crosscountry skiing up hill at a fast pace!

The average heart rate was between 86 percent and 99 percent of the kettlebell maximum heart rate, which means that the kettlebell workout is extremely vigorous and much higher intensity than regular weightlifting workout. In addition, it will improve your aerobic capacity as well, which is great for people and athletes who don’t have much extra time.

Keep swinging and get fit fast. Kettlebells are great for tennis as well: improving your explosive power of the hips, strength of your core and legs and shoulder stabilizing muscles. See more articles on kettlebells here: